Perhaps it’s a sign of the times but the eco-friendly XL1 draws the sort of audience and public interest normally reserved for high performance - and incredibly thirsty - supercars. The big difference however is that there is none of the envy, spite or bitterness that can often be evoked by flash supercars. The XL1 brings out the best in people, their interest in the design and the engineering feat that brought this car to reality. Its quirky looks - in particular those gullwing doors - brings a smile to faces, while the fuel economy stats provoke looks of disbelief and the odd expletive. It attracts more thumbs-up than a bus full of All-Ireland winners returning to their county with Sam Maguire on the dashboard.

So what’s it like to drive? Well getting in and out of cars with gullwing doors is always a little bit of a yoga feat and the XL1 is surprisingly low to the ground. Inside and your basically lying on the floor, a small steering wheel in hand and a speedometer display that’s largely taken from the current VW Up! city car. The rest is pretty basic fare, though the rearview camera screens fitted to the door take a little time to get used to. It’s all about saving weight and fuel so despite all the modern tech, the windows have manual winders. The battery pack is housed in front of the passenger, so that seat is pushed slightly further back than the driver.

Alex Todd Brand Manager at Its4women commented "The XL1's edgy design is intended to reduce drag and it features 'scissor doors' famously featured in the DeLorean DMC-12, which was used in the Back to the Future films."